Heavy rains are heading for the Hurricane Helene recovery area over the weekend in what could be the highest two-day rain totals since the hurricane struck.
ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Three months after Hurricane Helene devastated portions of western North Carolina and the Appalachians, the FOX Forecast Center is now tracking the potential for several inches of rain in the same hard-hit areas over the weekend.
Scattered showers will be around Friday with a few isolated downpours. But the weekend promises heavier rains with a one-two punch of weather systems.
A new low pressure center will develop Saturday and push through the Great Lakes, with its trailing cold front bringing a round of steady rains to western North Carolina and the Appalachians.
A stronger system that is bringing the daunting threat of tornadoes to the South on Saturday will sweep into the Ohio Valley and the Appalachians on Sunday with heavier rains and a lingering severe weather threat.
(FOX Weather)
Some locations will potentially experience their highest two-day rainfall totals since Hurricane Helene. By the time the rain subsides, a widespread 2-3 inches of rain is expected across western North Carolina, with localized areas receiving 3-5 inches where precipitation is enhanced by the terrain.
Asheville Rain Totals
(FOX Weather)
In addition, NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center has the Helene recovery region right on the boundary between a Level 1 and Level 2 severe weather threat Sunday.
(FOX Weather)
Forecast models indicate a risk of both damaging winds and an isolated tornado threat with strong to severe thunderstorms.
‘They’re not forgotten’
Edward Graham, COO of Samaritan’s Purse, joins FOX Weather to talk about the ongoing recovery efforts after Hurricane Helene devastated western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee.
Samaritan’s Purse – one of the many humanitarian aid organizations that rushed to the area in the wake of the devastating storm – said Friday that their volunteers still have nearly 1,000 work orders to help the region recover.
“We’re cutting trees and mucking out homes,” Samaritan’s Purse COO Edward Graham told FOX Weather. “But now we’re going into rebuilds where we build new homes for those that are underinsured or not insured.”
Graham said almost none of the victims in North Carolina had flood insurance.
“And so these people that are hardworking Americans, we’re working to get them back into their homes quickly,” Graham said. “And unfortunately, that just takes time.”
Meanwhile, people are not only battling the elements but also the overwhelming recovery ahead.
“I don’t know if they’ll ever be rebuilt the same. It’s unbelievable, the destruction,” Graham said. “But there’s: ‘Where do you start?’ And you just start by loving your neighbor and telling them they’re not forgotten. They’re not forsaken. There has kind of been a loss of hope in some places, in some communities, and we don’t want people to lose hope. We want (them) to know they’re loved.”
Conditions are expected to dry out Monday, with warmer temperatures persisting.